Team Owners

The question of who has the leverage has been settled. Arbitrator John Feerick's long-awaited decision came down Monday, ruling that NBA players with guaranteed contracts will not be paid during the lockout, strengthening the owners' hand. . In what amounted to a daring end run around management's dug-in defense, the National Basketball Players Assn. had asserted that 226 players, with contracts worth more than $700 million, must be paid.

SAN DIEGO — Based on his conversations with the Dodgers' new owners, General Manager Ned Colletti expects to have more financial flexibility at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline than he's had in recent years. "If we have a chance to improve our club, they're open-minded to doing it and everything that it entails," Colletti said. That could mean making significant additions to the payroll. President Stan Kasten recently acknowledged the Dodgers "don't have the warehouse of prospects we wish we had. " Without prospects to trade, the Dodgers probably won't be able to make any meaningful acquisitions unless they agree to inherit millions of dollars in salaries from non-contenders looking to shed payroll.

Roughly once a month, the NBA cuts 31 checks to NBA teams as revenue from its multibillion-dollar national television contract. There are only 30 NBA franchises, so who gets the extra check? The money goes to brothers Ozzie and Dan Silna, co-owners of the long-forgotten ABA team, the Spirits of St. Louis. Thirty years ago, Ozzie Silna, with attorney Donald Schupak, negotiated a deal that cleared the way for the ABA to merge with the NBA.

The Dodgers' new owners could reap hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits from the confidential terms of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court settlement between former owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball. The terms can be enforced for up to 40 years, with final authority over distribution of the Dodgers' television revenue granted to the court rather than to MLB, according to two people familiar with the sale process but not authorized to discuss it. As a result, the Dodgers' new owners could retain millions each year that otherwise would be shared with other teams.

Tampa Bay Devil Ray Manager Lou Piniella, wearying after a recent run of blowout losses and embarrassing performances, ripped the last-place team's ownership Sunday for not caring about winning now. Piniella said the New York-based owners who bought a controlling share of the perennially poor-performing franchise a year ago don't seem to care about Tampa Bay's current on-field product. "They're not interested in the present, they're interested in the future. And that's their right," he said.

Milwaukee Bucks basketball team owner Herbert Kohl defeated former Wisconsin Gov. Anthony S. Earl in a Democratic primary Tuesday for the seat of retiring Sen. William Proxmire. State Sen. Susan Engeleiter won the Republican race. With 84% of precincts reporting, Kohl had 217,568 votes, or 46%, and Earl had 179,603 votes, or 38%. In other results of primary voting in six states, Vermont's moderate Republican Rep.

The San Diego Thunder of the World Indoor Football League on Thursday released a list of 10 team owners, one of whom is Gene Klein, former owner of the Chargers. The team also announced that Don Coryell, former Charger coach, will be a coaching consultant and that Nate Wright, a former NFL defensive back, will be the defensive coordinator. According to the Thunder, the owners are: Klein; Dirk Broekema, chairman of Bowest Corp.

A welfare system exists in this country that transfers hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers to wealthy investors and their extraordinarily well-paid employees. Who are these individuals profiting from this life on the dole? They are the owners of North America's professional sports teams and the athletes who play in each of the four major sports leagues. --Opening words of "Major League Losers," a new book by Indiana University Professor Mark S.

The NFL and the NHL are household abbreviations and their events dominate the TV screen. By contrast, Bob Frazier of Chatsworth has spent the last six years peddling the NCL, which is less widely known and is seen on TV only about a dozen times a year. NCL stands for the National Cycle League, which began in 1989 and was designed to make bicycle races attractive to U.S. audiences and sponsors.

Players get to the pros by virtue of skill and hard work. They put their bodies on the line each time they step on the field. They get paid accordingly. If they don't perform they are soon gone. Team owners get to own teams by virtue of birth or marriage as often as anything else. If they make poor decisions and produce a bad product they have another option. They threaten to leave.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Tuesday he hopes to visit with team owner Frank McCourt before the sale of the club is finalized this month. "Hopefully, I get a chance to see him," Mattingly said, adding that he hadn't seen McCourt since the deal was announced. "Frank always — my interaction [with him] was great. " McCourt agreed to sell the Dodgers for $2.15 billion to a group led by the investment firm Guggenheim Partners that also includes Magic Johnson . The deal is expected to close by April 30 after approval from a Bankruptcy Court.

Twenty five years ago, on one of the longest nights in franchise history, a Dodgers executive claimed on national television that blacks did not have the "necessities" to run a baseball team. On Tuesday, Don Newcombe received a phone call that dawn had finally broken. The Dodgers had been purchased by a group that included an African American, and the team's closest living connection to Jackie Robinson swallowed hard and rubbed his eyes into the light. "This is one of the most magnificent things that could have ever happened," Newcombe said.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The astronomical sale price of the Dodgers reverberated across the country Wednesday, and across professional sports leagues, with some NFL owners calling it a $2.15-billion reminder of how valuable the Los Angeles market could be. "I think it reflects the value ? of being involved in the sports business in L.A.," said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, heading for the airport at the conclusion of the league's annual meetings at the Breakers hotel. "It should serve to encourage teams and owners to come to L.A. " Steve Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants and part-time L.A. resident, said the sale "is going to draw a lot of attention to L.A. as a super-valuable market for sports teams.

PHOENIX -- There was a noticeable buzz in the Dodgers' clubhouse Wednesday morning. The previous night, traveling secretary Scott Akasaki had sent the players a text message informing them that a group led by Magic Johnson had agreed to buy the team. "I think that's tight, man," Matt Kemp said. "For Magic to be one of our owners. He knows what the Dodgers mean to L.A. Of course, Magic is real important to L.A. and the fans love him, so to get him to be a part of the Dodgers organization is a very good thing for us, and I think this is a pretty good day for the Dodgers.

The multiple-car teams owned by John Force and Don Schumacher dominate drag racing's funny car class, but one-car team owner and driver Cruz Pedregon isn't about to concede an advantage. After finishing a close third in the championship standings last year, Pedregon, 48, is confident he can win his third funny car title this season despite constantly facing the Force and Schumacher entries. "By no means were we disappointed; we were excited" with last year's finish and consider it "a boost, no question" going into this year, he said.

By the time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw throws the first pitch of the Dodgers' season April 5, the cloud of uncertainty that has lingered over the team for more than two years should finally have passed. Frank McCourt, no longer fighting to retain control of the Dodgers, has agreed to select his successor as the team's owner by the first week in April. The Dodgers are expected to command a record price for a major league club, and the sale process begins in earnest Monday.

Marty Schottenheimer quit as Cleveland Browns coach Tuesday after refusing to relinquish his role as offensive coordinator. Schottenheimer and Brown owner Art Modell said the coach was departing by mutual agreement. "It became evident that some of the differences we had, we weren't going to be able to resolve," Schottenheimer said. "We came to an agreement that it was in everybody's best interest that we part company. I appreciate the opportunity Art gave me to become a head coach.

The owners of the San Diego Padres stunned the city earlier this month by announcing that the team was a financial bust and might leave town or be sold if the club could not find new sources of revenue. Of several ideas floated by the team's 15 partners, the most controversial is that the city build the Padres a baseball-only stadium modeled after Baltimore's hugely successful, $290-million Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Baseball owners say Commissioner Bud Selig will be offered a contract extension at this week's meetings in Phoenix. ESPN.com first reported that Selig will be offered an additional term when owners meet Wednesday and Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Two owners, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that a new term will be proposed. Owners also intend to approve the completion of the sale of the San Diego Padres from John Moores to Jeff Moorad . Selig, 77, has been commissioner since September 1992 and would surpass Kenesaw Mountain Landis for longest tenure in September 2016.

Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, said he offered to buy the Dodgers several months ago but declined to enter negotiations when owner Frank McCourt said the price would be in the range of $1 billion to $1.2 billion. "At that price, I wasn't interested," Cuban said Tuesday. Cuban, who has lost out in bidding for the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers, said he remains interested in buying the Dodgers. Cuban said he could not recall exactly when he made his overture to McCourt, but said he did so "in anticipation of what might happen.